Mumbai / New Delhi
The caretaker captain Ajinkya Rahane reached home with some other players on Thursday after conquering Australia, the atmosphere resonated with the ‘Ala Re Ala Ajinkya Ala’. Some players, including captain Rahane and coach Ravi Shastri, reached home on Thursday and were strongly welcomed here. When Rahane arrived at his residential complex, the traditional dhol was playing tasha and people were singing ‘Ala re ala ajinkya ala’.

When he was moving on the red carpet, people were wreathing him. Apart from Rahane, head coach Ravi Shastri, star batsman Rohit Sharma, fast bowler Shardul Thakur and opener Prithvi Shaw also reached Mumbai, while Brisbane Test hero Rishabh Pant reached Delhi early in the morning. First elected as a net bowler but later during a tour, fast bowler T Natarajan, who became the first cricketer to debut in all three international formats, traveled to Bangalore from where he would go to his village Salem in Tamil Nadu.

Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin from Chennai, young all-rounder Washington Sundar and bowling coach Bharat Arun are in Dubai and are expected to reach home on Friday morning. Rahane, Shastri, Rohit, Shardul and Sauv were welcomed by Mumbai Cricket Association officials upon reaching Mumbai. Rahane also cut a cake to celebrate the team’s victory. After this, when Rahane arrived directly at his residential complex in Matunga, the residents there had made a lot of preparations to welcome him.

On reaching Rahane, the drums started ringing and wreaths started. Rahane was also delighted to see this love of the people. Some of them were waiting for the team at the airport wearing masks despite the Kovid-19 epidemic. When this batsman reached his residential premises, he was welcomed in the traditional way. Dhol Tasha is usually played on the occasion of celebrating an achievement or a joyous occasion. Despite several players being injured, India won the series 2–1 by defeating Australia by three wickets in the fourth and final Test match in Brisbane on Tuesday and thus retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy.